Indie movie starring Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell to film in Md.

Actress Olivia Wilde is one of the stars of "Better Living Through Chemistry," a new indie film which will be shot in Maryland.

Actress Olivia Wilde is one of the stars of "Better Living Through Chemistry," a new indie film which will be shot in Maryland. (Jemal Countess, Reuters Photo)

Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun

"Better Living Through Chemistry," an independent movie about a pharmacist's life unraveling after he starts an affair with a trophy-wife customer, will film for five weeks in Maryland starting this month, Governor Martin O'Malley announced Thursday.

The cast includes Olivia Wilde, Michelle Monaghan and Sam Rockwell — TV and independent-film stars with wide mainstream-movie credits including blockbusters like "Tron: Legacy" (Wilde), "Mission: Impossible 3" (Monaghan), and "Iron Man 2" (Rockwell). The presence of Ray Liotta, who broke through with the great neo-noir farce "Something Wild" before starring in "GoodFellas," adds to the film's black-comedy cred.

The writing-directing team of Geoff Moore and David Posamentier will put these globetrotting actors through their paces in Maryland. Helping them navigate will be Catonsville born-and-bred Tim Suhrstedt, the film's cinematographer. With credits like "Office Space" and "Little Miss Sunshine," Suhrstedt has become a go-to guy for quirky comedy.

"Better Living Through Chemistry" is estimated to deliver up to 340 jobs to local crew, actors and extras and roughly $7 million to the Maryland economy.

"We look forward to welcoming the cast of 'Better Living Thru Chemistry' to Maryland," Governor Martin O'Malley said in a statement. "This film, and the many film projects that have chosen Maryland recently, help create hundreds of jobs and generate new business for the local companies that support this industry."

Those projects include the HBO film "Game Change" and HBO series "VEEP" as well as the independent film "Jamesy Boy." The Netflix series "House of Cards" is still shooting in various Maryland locations, including The Baltimore Sun.